SpritesMind.Net

what do you suppose the legal issues are for writing a book partially based on sega.doc (http://emu-docs.org/Genesis/sega2f.htm) ? It says, "CONFIDENTIAL PROPERTY OF SEGA". Suppose that's true, what are the rights someone has for knowledge gotten from someone else breaking an nda?

At best, the publication of so-called "confidential" information is a matter of trade secret law. The fact that the information has been public for so long (not to mention it concerns ancient hardware) effectively voids the confidentiality status and nullifies any claim to trade secret. Copyright law may still apply, but assuming you're not just reprinting the information verbatim, that shouldn't even matter.

Hypothetically, if you were to publish a book, say, 25 years ago, it depends. A company like Sega would be responsible for proving to a court that the information is indeed trade secret and for going after the party that leaked the document. In doing so, it's possible that they would attempt to get a court to issue an injunction to stop publication of your book and you could be liable for damages. It depends on Sega's legal claim and how you obtained the information in the first place (and to some extent, your reason for publishing).

Of course, laws vary from country to country, and in many cases you should consult with a lawyer, especially if you plan on self-publishing. For more info on trade secret as well as other forms of IP (as it relates to current U.S. laws), you can check out this link.

Fun...I asked myself the same thing some times ago : is it illegal to host this document ?

I also asked me so many times if it's legal to publish a port of a game whose initial company made bankrupt but it seems the answer is : "rights, if not linked to a company, could still be linked to a man : the one who produce it, if not the man who dev it, if not ......" and it's very difficult to find who bought rights from dead company ("kaneko" is my own subject) since they don't talk about it and they sometimes bought rights for some games, not every one...